Radio apparatus and method of assembling the same



Oct. 31, 1939. F. c. BLANCHA .1 8. 0

RADIO APPARATUS AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAME Filed Dec. 31; 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet l ISnventor 0d. 31, 19 39. c BLANCHA 2,178,220

RADIO APPARATUS AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAME Filed Dec. 31, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllllllflllllllllllll l Oct. 31, 1939. F. c. BLANCHA RADIO APPARATUS AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAME Filed Dec. 51, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 T 26 15 w 2n 2 5 wm @6 v K Q Patented Oct. 31, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RADIO APPARATUS AND METHOD OF ASSElWBLING THE SAME aware Application December 31, 1936, Serial No. 118,439

l Claims.

This invention relates to radio sets and particularly to methods of and apparatus for the assembly and mounting of radio transmitting apparatus.

The usual modern radio transmitter has its tubes and other component parts mounted upon shelves and upon the inner walls of a metal cabinet. While separate cabinets may be provided for the different groups of apparatus, the compactness of present-day electrical units usually permits the assembly of all of the parts within a single relatively small cabinet. Thus, all of the parts of a 250-watt transmitter may be accommodated without undue crowding in a metal cabinet measuring, say, 2' x 3 X 6'.

One very real disadvantage of transmitters of the type described arises from the fact that up until now it has been customary to construct the cabinet in the form of an up-ended uncovered rectangular frame or box having integral side and front panels; so constructed and positioned but a single workman can enter or reach within the cabinet for the purpose of mounting the parts therein. Obviously, this prolongs the construction time and adds materially to the cost of the transmitter.

Another disadvantage of transmitters constructed in accordance with the prior art arises from the practiceof mounting the tubes and other apparatus upon shelves which effectively divide the interior of the cabinet into separate compartments. Where, as is usually the case, the shelves are removable, separate terminal blocks must be provided for each shelf and the connection thereto must be unfastened to permit of access to the parts in the remote interior of the cabinet.

The principal object of the present invention is to obviate the above and other disadvantages inherent in radio sets constructed and assembled in accordance with the prior art.

The broad objects of the invention are achieved by the provision of a chassis comprising a chamber constituted of a plurality of separable sections, each having a panel defining one wall of said chamber, and an angularly disposed panel defining a portion of another wall of said chamber. Thus, each chassis section, considered in outline, may be in the form of an L, in which case two of the arms of the Us taken together may define and constitute a front panel and the other arms the spaced side panels of a U-shape chassis.

The radio apparatus, such, for xample, as the condensers, transformers, loading coils, wiring, etc., are mounted on the inner surfaces of the walls of the individual chassis sections before these sections are united. To facilitate mounting and wiring of the apparatus, the separate chassis sections may be supported in a horizontal position, thus permitting several workmen to be engaged simultaneously in the mounting and wiring operations. In assembling a radio transmitter, one of the chassis sections is preferably slotted to the support of radio frequency apparatus and another chassis section to the support of audio frequency apparatus. The power supply apparatus, other than the tubes (which are all mounted in a manner later described upon the front of the chassis) and including relays, etc., may be mounted on the walls of either or both sections.

The leads necessary to connect the various types of apparatus are aifixed to terminal blocks which are mounted adjacent each other along those edges of the panels which fit together and, with the separate chassis sections in position, 20 short bus-bars or jumpers are connected between the terminals of the separate terminal blocks.

With the chassis sections assembled, the only wiring necessary to be done within the apparatus chamber is the insertion of the jumpers joining the terminal blocks. Since the jumpers may readily be disconnected, it is possible to dissassemble the chassis sections in a very few moments. It is, however, usually not necessary to do this because there are no shelves or other cumbersome auxiliary supports within the chamber to bar access for purposes of inspection or repair.

The tubes are carried on shelves which extend outwardly beyond the panels constituting the front of the chassis. Other shelves similarly arranged and accessible from the front of the set carry the meters and other auxiliary apparatus, such, for example, as the heat box housing the piezo-electric frequency control device. If desired, a portion of one or both of the front panels of the chassis may be cut away to accommodate a loudspeaker, cathode ray oscilloscope, or other monitoring device. Doors, hinged, for example, upon a frame in which the chassis sections are mounted, conceal the shelves and the apparatus supported thereon.

Certain details of construction, together with other objects and advantages, will be apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation view looking into a 55 radio transmitter having a chassis constructed in accordance with the principle of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings, F designates generally an upended rectangular frame having a base B upon which rests two L-shape, separable, chassis sections I and 2, 50 positioned with respect to each other as to constitute an open-sided or U-shape chamber C. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, one panel, 3, of chassis section, I, comprises one side wall, and panel 4 of section 2 comprises the other side wall of chamber C. Panel sections 5 and 6, taken together, form the front panel or wall of this chamber. The abutting edges of panel sections 5 and 6 are preferably provided with in wardly extending flanges I and 8, respectively, for the reception of bolts b, which serve to maintain these sections in alignment.

The free edges of panel sections 3 and 4 may be provided with flanges 9 and II], respectively, which may carry hinges II and I2 for supporting one or more doors (not shown) for closing the rear of the chamber.

The front surface of the bi-part panel 5-6 carries a plurality of shelves which extend outwardly therefrom toward, but preferably not beyond, the plane of the front of the frame F. These shelves are designated I3 to 24, inclusive. They are preferably so arranged that when the separable chassis sections I and 2 are assembled, the shelves on the front of one section form a continuation of the shelves on the other section.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the top shelf I3I4 carries two meter panels 25 and 2E. The space between these panels is cut away, as at 23, to accommodate a monitoring device, such as cathode ray oscillograph, not shown.

If desired, the oscillograph and the meter panels 25 and 25 may be tilted forward, as shown in Fig. l, to facilitate reading.

Shelf-sections I5, I8, 22 and 24 support various tubes for the audio-frequency stages, and

shelf-sections I5, I? and 21! support tubes of the high-frequency stages of the transmitter. Thus, 28 and 35 may be modulator tubes, and tubes 32 and 3A may constitute a second audio amplifier stage, while tubes 27 and. 29 may comprise the radio frequency amplifier stages of the set. The tubes 3'5 and 38 on shelf I8 comprise a first audio amplifier stage, and tubes 3!, 33 and 35 on shelf ll may be, respectively, a regulator tube, a buffer tube, and an intermediate power amplifier.

The central portions of shelves I9 and 20 carry meter panels 39, 40, supported at a convenient angle on these shelves by bracket 4| (Fig. 4). The end sections of these shelves support panels 33 and 44 on which the control knobs 45, 46 of the set are mounted. As shown more c1early in Figs. 2 and l, a hinged cover or closure 41 may be provided in front of the meter panels. When opened, as shown in the drawings, the surface of closure 41 constitutes a desk for the convenience of the operator.

The tubes 48, 50 on shelf 22, and tubes 52, 54, 56 and 58 on shelf 24, are rectifier tubes. Shelf 2| carries a heat-box 49 for apiezo-electric control element, and an oscillator 5| controlled by this element. A door 53, hinged, for example, on frame F, and having a handle 55, provides access to the apparatus on shelf 2I. Similar doors, not shown, are provided for closing the other areas of the front of the Set when it is in operation.

Prior to placing the separate L-shaped chassis sections I and 2 in the frame F, all of the various electrical and mechanical parts are mounted upon the inner surfaces of the angularly disposed walls 35, 4-6. As previously set forth, all of the high-frequency apparatus is mounted on the walls of one of the chassis sections, say section I, and all of the low frequency apparatus upon the walls of the other section 2.

In the drawings, the parts odd-numbered 6| to 95 inclusive, mounted on. the walls 35 of panel I, are various units of the radio frequency apparatus, and those mounted on the walls 4-45 of panel 2 and even-numbered 50 to 18 inclusive, form part of the audio frequency apparatus of the transmitter. The various elements of the power supply system are divided between panels 3 and t and are numbered I5 to 95 inclusive. Only so much of the apparatus and wiring is shown as is necessary for a clear understanding of the invention. It would needlessly complicate the drawings and specification to illustrate and describe each unit and the circuit connections therefor, since, obviously, apparatus and circuits of various types may be employed in carrying the invention into effect.

There are two terminal blocks I and II mounted adjacent each other along those edges of the panels and G which fit together. Prior to assembling the individual L-shape chassis sections I and 2, the wiring of each section is completed and tested. While some of the wiring between individual elements of the set has beenomitted in the interest of simplicity, it will be understood that all of the wires I513 (Fig. 1) on section I, necessary to be connected to the apparatus on chassis section '2, terminate on block IflI. Similarly, all of the wires I02 on section 2, to be connected to the apparatus on the opposite chassis section I, terminate on block I00.

As previously set forth, in mounting and wiring the apparatus on theindividual chassis sections I and 2, they are preferably placed, in accordance with the invention, in a horizontal position and, so positioned, a number of workmen may be engaged simultaneously in the construction of the set. The completely wired separate sections are then up-endet in the frame F and bolted together by means of bolts b, which pass through the inwardly extending abutting flanges l and 8. With the separable chassis sections I and 2 assembled in frame F, terminal blocks I00 and IIH are adjacent each other so that the terminals of the blocks may be connected by short bus-bars or jumpers I04 and I05.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense except as required by the prior art and the spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a radio set, a chassis comprising a chamber constituted of a pair of separable sections each having a panel defining one entire wall of said chamber and an angularly disposed panel which with the corresponding panel of the other section forms another entire wall of said chamher, said angularly disposed panels having shelves affixed thereto and extending outwardly from the front surface thereof, the shelves and the inner walls of one of said separable chassis sections having apparatus constituting the high frequency stages of said set mounted thereon, and the shelves and the inner walls of another of said separable chassis sections having apparatus constituting the low frequency stages of said set mounted. thereon.

2. In a radio set, a'chassis comprising a chamber constituted of a pair of separable sections each having a panel defining one entire wall and an angularly disposed panel which with the corresponding panel of the other section forms another entire wall of said chamber, said angularly disposed panels having edges in abutting relation, one of said separable chassis sections having apparatus comprising the high frequency stages of said set mounted on the panel walls thereof and the other of said separable sections having the low frequency apparatus of said set similarly mounted thereon, a terminal block mounted adjacent abutting edges of each chassis section, conductive connections from the apparatus mounted on said chassis sections to the terminal block individual thereto, and leads between the terminals of said blocks for connecting said low and high frequency apparatus in circuit.

3. Method of manufacturing a radio transmitter which comprises forming two separate chassis sections which when fitted together comprise a cabinet chamber having a front panel constituted of portions of each of said chassis sections, and two side walls one of which is constituted of a portion of one of said chassis sections, and the other side wall of which is constituted of a portion of the other of said chassis sections, mounting the high frequency apparatus of said radio transmitter upon one of said separate chassis sections and the low frequency apparatus upon the other of said separate chassis sections, and then fitting said separate chassis sections together.

4 Method of manufacturing a radio transmitter which comprises forming two separate chassis sections of L-shape cross-section, mounting the high frequency apparatus of said transmitter upon the walls of one of said chassis sections and the low frequency apparatus upon the walls of the other of said sections, and then uniting said L-shape chassis sections to form a cabinet for said apparatus which, in cross section, is in the form of a U.

FELIX C. BLANCHA. 

